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BR Walls unveils collage installation (225 Magazine)

Maggie Kleinpeter poses in front of her collage installation, a new downtown installation from the BR Walls Project. Photo By: Matthew Sigur/225 Magazine

Maggie Kleinpeter has a long history with downtown Baton Rouge.

Though the artist/designer/photographer now calls Austin, Texas home, Kleinpeter and most of her family grew up downtown.

"I've seen pictures of my grandfather and grandmother walking down Third Street as a young couple," Kleinpeter says, smiling from ear to ear. "My grandmother grew up here. My great-grandfather lived here and raised his children here. My mother lived here as a little girl."

When Kleinpeter received a call to be a part of the BR Walls beautification project, she couldn't pass up the opportunity. Not only would she come back home, but she would also bring one of her paintings to life on a downtown wall.

Kleinpeter's enlarged collage was installed by Monday afternoon on 460 Main St. in partnership with Lamar Advertising and BR Walls. Like much of Kleinpeter's work, her downtown collage is inspired by nature. It's a colorful, yet abstract piece giving the "feeling of dandelion seeds floating slowly through the air," she says.

"I love being outside," she says. "I love gardening. I take photos of flowers, bugs…I let all that go in and spit it back out as paintings."

Kleinpeter is hoping the mural will catch people's eyes and makes the passers-by smile.

"BR Walls and Lamar—what they're doing is amazing," she says. "If this can make someone's day a little better or open someone's world a little bit, that's an excellent project."

You can view more of Kleinpeter's work here. For more information on the BR Walls Project, visit brwallsproject.com.